Notes: Lions 2020 rookie class graded near bottom of the NFL

The 2020 rookie class officially made it through their first year in the league in an atypical season, to say the very least.

NFL.com’s Gennaro Filice and Nick Shook combined forces to take a look at each team’s rookies and rank them, 1-32. Pretty unsurprisingly, the Detroit Lions came in at the bottom of the pecking order at No. 29.

For reference, these were Detroit’s 2020 NFL Draft picks:

• Round 1: (No. 3) CB Jeff Okudah
• Round 2: (35) RB D’Andre Swift
• Round 3: (67) DE Julian Okwara; (75) OG Jonah Jackson
• Round 4: (121) OG Logan Stenberg
• Round 5: (166) WR Quintez Cephus; (172) RB Jason Huntley
• Round 6: (197) DT John Penisini
• Round 7: (235) DL Jashon Cornell

“The last draft class of the Bob Quinn era did nothing in Year 1 to depress Detroit’s thriving ”Rebuilding Since 1957” merch market,” Filice writes.

He touches on Okudah’s lackluster rookie performance and health struggles, then even goes as far as to say he was “the most disappointing first-round pick in the 2020 draft.”

Filice notes Swift’s dropped 11th-hour touchdown in the Week 1 loss to the Chicago Bears, but commends the young running back for a bounce back.

“A boffo performance in the Lions’ Week 10 win over Washington — 16 rushes for 81 yards; five catches for 68 yards and a touchdown — showed off Swift’s enticing all-around skill set,” he writes.

He has a few more comments on Lions rookies you can read here, but the overall class grade: C-

And onto the rest of your notes.

• With Lions news at a bit of a lull, MLive’s Benjamin Raven redrafted the the 2020 NFL Draft for Detroit — with Jeff Okudah out at third pick.
• Dave Birkett for the Detroit Free Press takes a crack at his first mock draft, suggesting the Lions pick up a quarterback at No. 7.
• As the Lions release their new staff list, the detroitlions.com team offers their picks on which Detroit coaches to watch this season and why.
• An always-appreciated Megatron TBT:

• Pro Football Focus examines each team’s quarterback situation by need. The Lions fall under the “high — current starter is on the decline, running out of time or has yet to improve himself” category.